MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

Japan estimates cost of the earthquake and tsunami could reach 300 billion USD

An estimated 250.000 people are living in shelters and rescue teams continue looking for corpses

Japan estimated the cost of the damage from its devastating earthquake and tsunami could top 300 billion US dollars (close to 6% of GDP). The first official estimate since the March 11 disaster covers damage to roads, homes, factories and infrastructure.

The estimate dwarfs losses from both the 1995 Kobe quake and Hurricane Katrina that swept through New Orleans in 2005, making it the world's costliest natural disaster.

The plant, battered by a 9.0 magnitude earthquake and tsunami that has left 23,000 people dead or missing, has still not been brought under control, and workers were forced away from the complex when black smoke began rising from one of its six reactors.

On the human toll of the catastrophe more than a quarter of a million people are living in shelters, while rescuers and sniffer dogs continue to comb debris and mud looking for corpses and personal mementos.

There are reports dozens of survivors, mostly elderly, have died in hospitals and evacuation centres due to a lack of proper treatment, or simply because of the cold.

Desperate municipalities are digging mass graves, unthinkable in a nation where the dead are usually cremated and their ashes placed in stone family tombs near Buddhist temples.

“This is a special measure, but there is nothing much else we can do,” said Kazuhiko Endo, an official in Kamaishi town, where a mass burial is planned on Friday for 150 unidentified people.
“More than a week has passed since we placed them in morgues and we don't know if they can be identified.”

The Asian nation's worst crisis since World War Two has sent shock waves through global financial markets.

The damage estimate of 300 billion USD could go higher as it does not include losses in economic activity from planned power outages or the broader impact of the nuclear crisis. The 1995 Kobe quake cost 100 billion USD while Hurricane Katrina caused 81 billion USD in damage.

The crisis in the world's third-biggest economy -- and its key position in global supply chains, especially for the auto and technology sectors -- has added to global market jitters, also affected by conflict in Libya and unrest in the Middle East.

Asian shares fell on Wednesday, with Tokyo's Nikkei ending 1.65% down as investors took profits from a two-session bounce. Japanese stocks are about 8% below their close on the day the big quake struck.

Toyota said it would delay the launch in Japan of two additions to the Prius line-up, a wagon and a minivan, from the originally planned end-April due to production disruptions.

The Japan crisis has also dealt a blow to the nuclear power industry around the world. Italy became the latest nation to re-assess its program, announcing a one-year moratorium on site selection and building of plants.